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From Fat to Fit to Beast!

I had such a hard time thinking about living the life I deserved in 2009. Just as importantly was me living the life Polly, my wife, deserved. I’ve always been great at helping others, which I Iove, just not so great with taking care of me. I am sure some of you can identify with me.

Actually, understanding that living the life I deserved was important was a huge deal for me. I had always been good at being in the background, supporting others, helping others find success, and making things happen that way. I am not complaining, it is something I am quite good at and take pride in then and now.

At the Ports Authority and Boys & Girls Clubs, I thrived at helping those that worked with me and for me find success in what they were doing and wanted to do. That is how I built successful operations. Each person was part of the overall success.

In my volunteer work I was always ‘Johnny on the spot’. I always showed up, always, said YES, and always made things happen to bring success to the project or organization.

Both my careers and volunteer work were and are very important to me. But for too many years they came at a toll. I gave up far too much of myself and my life. At some point at started sacrificing too much of me, too much of I wanted to be in life. I found myself helping others live the life they deserved while coming up short on living the life I deserved.

When I would do things to take care of me and pursue my personal goals/dreams, I felt almost guilty for focusing on my wellbeing. I felt that if I took time for me, I was taking away from someone else, the project, or organization. I developed a warped sense of thinking over time.

It took me almost 53 years of life to figure out I needed to ‘Take Care of ME’ to be the best me for everyone else in my life. I realized in 2009 that I had no more to give and my tank was empty. In 2009 I started working on living the life Polly and I deserved.

It has taken me a number of years to come to grips with the fact that living the life I deserve not only helps me, it helps a lot of other people, too. I am a much better me to help my family, friends, and community. I am in so much of a better place now with my health, wellness, and mindset. I am working toward ‘living the life I deserve’ AND I am bringing people with me on the journey. I LOVE THAT ABOUT ME! And, I have found it is OK to love me! If you don’t love YOU, learn too!!

I have gone from a fatguy that took care of everyone but himself, to a person that is becoming a beast about taking care of himself! Being a beast is a mindset I have developed and continue to work on to best take care of me. And by being a beast about taking care of me, I’ve found that I am much better at helping others in my life. I am much better at being a husband, son, brother, friend, and volunteer. I am much better at helping people live the lives they deserve!

Note to ME and YOU: Could a better version of YOU be a bad thing? I think not! Live the life YOU deserve and be a BEAST about it!

Believe and Achieve

2017 was a great year and another turning point for me. It was a year of self-evaluation, self-determination, prayer, commitment, gratitude, love, and amazing opportunity. It was a year that will make me smile for a long long time!

The journey to 2017 was tough, rocky and filled with struggle. I struggled with the aftermath of my car accident in April 2015. The neck, shoulder, and back issues wore me down and dealing with the insurance company was/is an ugly experience. While I tried to stay in bounds, I saw my weight rise to 260 pounds in January of 2017! This is a very short version of pre-2017 events and circumstances.

In January of 2017, I committed to a major reset. While still dealing with issues related to my injury, I worked to find a path out of where I was at 260 pounds. The 260 pounds became overwhelming and brought back the hopeless feelings I had experienced at 360 pounds in 2009. These feelings were scary, but made me understand something about myself and many people I had talked with about my journey over 8 years. When you head down the road of hopelessness you start thinking ‘this is it, I can’t get out of this hole, it’s just too deep’! I’ve seen it in me and many others. It is not a good feeling.

So, I decided to set a course ‘out of the fire’ and work to help others do the same:

I committed to follow my nutrition plan to work toward the results I wanted and knew I could attain. I did this with the amazing Nutritional Cleansing system of Isagenix and the great products they provided for my journey.

I committed to trying to find some way, some path to deal with my pain and injury.

I committed to figuring out ways to get my exercise routine on track while being mindful of the restrictions my injury had placed on me.

I committed to the Isabody Challenge and becoming Isabody Champion.

Most importantly, I committed to ‘taking care of ME’. I committed to putting my head and heart in the game and totally committed to reaching my goals.

In doing all of this I want you to know ‘YOU CAN ESCAPE THE DEEP HOLE OF HOPELESSNESS’. If you feel like you cannot climb out of that hole, I am telling you, YOU CAN! Get your head and heart aligned and committed to getting out and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish!

Things I have accomplished this year since getting my head and heart aligned have been:

I was gifted with the opportunity to write in a book ‘A Journey of Riches-Personal Changes’. Many thanks to Casey Plouffe and John Spender for this opportunity! My section is titled ‘Hopeless to Amazed’.

I was able to lose 43 pounds from January to December and totally retool my body! Thanks to Total Gym, Isagenix, Dr. Hunter, Dr. Llop, Alvie Shepherd, Isabody Challenge, and more recently, OrangeTheory thanks to Chris Spina, Julie Thomas, and the great coach/trainer, Keith Hardwick Jr

I was fortunate to have a good friend/lawyer, Joe Epting, deal with the insurance company! Thanks buddy!

I was able to become a contributing writer with Oblique Magazine of Charleston. This came about because of a chance conversation with John Di Giovanni in Starbucks in August. I thank him for allowing me to bend his ear that day and then inviting me into his magazine.

I was able to get back into speaking with the SCSNA conference in October thanks to Todd Bedenbaugh and my brother, Walter Campbell! (This leads into an appearance in Georgetown County this month!)

And the most important piece for me is helping more and more people find physical and financial freedom through Isagenix and our HIA Team. Thanks to Casey Plouffe, our team, and Isagenix for EVERYTHING!

Last thing! I believe! I believe you can do anything when you commit your head and heart to the goal. I believe I can do anything when I commit my head and heart to the goal. I believe in God, I believe in ME, I believe in family, I believe in country, and I believe in YOU!

An Amazing Year!

I am not proud of the picture in 2016. I am proud of the fact I kept facing forward and kept getting up. After being hit by a car on the day of my mom’s funeral in April 2015 things starting going south. Injury, pain, and uncertainty took me from the weight loss and fitness journey I treasured to struggling to stay in bounds. The only thing that kept me from going back to the 360 pounds I knew in 2009 was Isagenix. After a 20 month struggle, I refocused, recommitted to me and in January 2017 at 260 pounds I REBOOTED!

I recommitted to a daily strategy of my wonderful nutrition system, Isagenix, and my very convenient Total Gym Fit. During my REBOOT I was able to gain some traction on my injuries and pain with two of my doctors.

With my commitment and the additional support of my Isagenix team/family, 2017 has turned into an amazing year! I am down 45 pounds and in better health and fitness than ever.

I was asked in an interview last night “what are you grateful for?” I am grateful for my journey, my relationship with God, my wonderful wife, my family, my Isagenix team/family, Total Gym, and anyone/anything that has added value to my life.

Now I am on a mission to show people they can change their lives and find their way to fitness, health, and wellness. I am on a mission to win the Isabody Challenge. I will help turn around the obesity epidemic in our country!

Your choice!

I was blessed to be invited to attend a Blue Zones presentation for Charleston SC by Dr. Susan Johnson of MUSC. Hearing the presentation hit home with me as they have sought out the healthiest communities in the world to see what works for them. As you know, I am always looking for wellness and what works for ME! They are now taking what they have learned and helping communities in the US move toward health and wellness and away from obesity, treatment and disease.

Obviously, Blue Zones focus on wellness resonates with me. I am a walking billboard for someone that lived through treatment for far too many years. In 2009, I was taking 7 different drugs and using a CPAP machine just to survive. I was basically at the water line of life just keeping my head above water. I hated where I was, the drugs, the CPAP machine, and everything about how I felt.

Since my focus on wellness, starting in March 2009, I lost 150 pounds and worked to learn more and more about wellness and living my life in a state of wellness. As I have continued to learn and grow in wellness some wonderful things have happened in my life. I’ve ditched the 7 drugs and CPAP machine! I feel phenomenal and I am in the best health of my life now, 61 years old. I’ve done as many as 1,000 pushups in a workout session and 150 reps of local high school stadium bleachers. And, my life expectancy has moved from 64 to 96 with a great quality of life. This is just a little about how wellness has changed my life!

The way I feel and the distance I’ve traveled from treatment to wellness continues to astound me. I wish I could somehow show you or make you feel how I felt in 2009 and how fantastic I feel now. I cannot even put a number on it. My wish is that everyone gets the opportunity to live in wellness and to feel great. Each of you deserves that opportunity.

Here is the kicker. I can talk to you about the possibilities and help you with the journey. Blue Zones can build in the opportunities in our community and bring the resources to make the change. BUT, you must choose to take advantage of the opportunity they offer, or I offer. You must choose to travel the journey. Blue Zones can build the structure and work to move the needle, I can coach you and provide direction on your journey, but YOU must choose wellness, YOU must decide YOU are worth it!

NOTE TO ME AND YOU: Your Choice! Wellness or Treatment! YOU are worth choosing wellness and traveling the journey.

I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE combating our obesity epidemic!

My passion is to be healthy, fit, and strong enough to best help my family, friends, and community. It is my ‘why’ and it keeps me moving forward on my journey through all the highs and lows I experience. I have worked on this for the past 8 ½ years. I am not perfect, but I am in a much better place to pursue my passion and live my ‘why’.

Now, my ‘why’ is expanding! I want to change the obesity epidemic that plagues our country. With a third of our country obese and another third headed that way, I must do something! I want to sound the alarm! I want to wake people up! I want to turn the tide on this cursed epidemic that has become our health care crisis. It is truly a disaster!

WHY? Because I have found my way out of my own personal fire and want to lead others out of their fire!

I help people by coaching, nutrition support, giving away my story at fatguydiary.com, and volunteering with organizations, such as, Eat Smart Move More Charleston Tri-County. But, I feel this is not near enough for me. I have a burning desire to make a bigger difference! Bu how?

I just finished a project that was published this month called “A Journey of Riches Personal Changes”. My contribution was a section titled “Hopeless to Amazed”. I wrote “Hopeless to Amazed” by digging deeper on my journey and because I see so many people that feel they are hopeless to change their lives, change their destiny. I want people to know they CAN change their life, they CAN change their destiny!

My starting point is simple. I am doing more speaking engagements starting October 20th and I am working on a grocery store guide with Eat Smart Move More CTC. I am looking for more opportunities to sound the alarm and give people the hope they need to start their journeys.

I am also excited to say I am embarking on a new writing project that I have been working on since early August. A chance meeting, has brought me together with someone that is giving me the opportunity to have a bigger voice to help give people some hope and direction out of obesity and unhealthy lifestyle toward a healthier happier future. This news will be coming soon!!!!

Note to ME and YOU: It is going to take ALL of us to turn our obesity epidemic around! Let’s do it!

I've been there....

Two things happened today that really hit home with me. First, I had a friend post that Americans spend $65 billion a year on the weight loss industry, despite a 95% failure rate. Second, I invested a hour coaching someone today that was frustrated, angry, and confused!

I get it because I’ve been there. The frustration and anger, with a dose of confusion, I saw today is all too common. Today was a prime example of what happens to people. My client has tried multiple programs seen success to some level on each and then returned to old habits. His level of anger, frustration, and confusion stemmed from the fact that he is very successful in his career and life overall. He is able to multitask and accomplish many things in life. He is extremely frustrated because he can’t make this lifestyle change work. He wants his habits to change now, but is not ready to stick with new lifestyle habits more than a few days or a week to get where he wants to go.

I know this situation and lived it. I’m great at helping others, was great at helping two organizations find success, love helping my church, and enjoy volunteering to help local nonprofits and schools. I was not great at taking care of me! I saw this level of frustration in me and see it when I speak to groups, have one on one discussions, and in the media.

I can help, I know I can help! I have the programs and have traveled the journey. I know what it is like to fall and keep getting up each time I fall. BUT, this comes down to one thing. That one thing is YOU! Are YOU ready to change? Just how committed are YOU to changing on a scale from 1-10? What is your WHY for changing? Is your WHY important enough to YOU to stay committed to your lifestyle change?

As my client and I parted, I told him to Keep it Simple, not to beat himself up anymore, and not to think about cheat days or anything else till we got his habits working. He promised to follow our plan through Sunday and then we will regroup!

My advice to you is don’t beat yourself up anymore, and commit today to your journey. Always get up right away when you fall. Keep things as simple as possible to change your lifestyle habits. AND, if you are committed and ready, contact me and let’s get you in a healthy lifestyle. YOU ARE WORTH IT!!

Note to ME and YOU: We are worth the effort. And always, Take Care of YOU!

It happens!

Who’s sabotaging your weight loss journey? I have had many major changes in my life and had saboteurs step in on each decision and each journey to improve my life.

I first recognized this behavior in 1984. I had battled with alcohol for about 10 years and finally made the decision that I was an alcoholic and I would stop drinking that day, the last day of March 1984. I have not had a drink every day since then. When I stopped, I felt free, happy, and positive. It did not take long for me to realize many of my friends and some relatives became saboteurs. “You don’t have a problem Mike. You can handle your alcohol. You can have just one drink with us!” They did not truly respect or understand the decision I had to make and some were concerned that if I owned up to my problem, what about them? Many of these friends disappeared over several weeks of seeing me pursue a better life for me!

Weight loss has been a very similar situation. I have gotten to see a lot more saboteurs here because I have not only changed myself, I have worked with many people on their weight loss goals and journey. There were many different types of saboteurs. My mom loved me very much, but never saw me as a fat guy, even at 360 pounds! She always wanted to feed me, even when I was losing 150 pounds in 2009. She had not ill intent, she just loved me and her habit was to have food available for me, my 4 brothers, and their families every time we went to her house. And no, it was not a healthy option! Tasty, but not healthy!

Other saboteurs I have seen were in the misery enjoys company category. I was coaching a good friend of mine that was off to a great start with my nutrition program, coaching and support. She started posting on Facebook. Some people were happy, some congratulated her, some were curious, but one was her kiss of death. One woman that knew her posted she didn’t need to change, nothing would help her, and she should be happy with where she was. The comment had a little more content than this, but this was the gist of it. This one negative comment by a friend that was living an unhealthy lifestyle was enough to cause the woman I was coaching to abandon her journey.

I’ve see relatives, spouses, friends, and even random people on social media sabotage someone’s weight loss journey. Typically, people don’t want us to change our relationship with them when we work to improve ourselves. They drag us back out of love, fear, jealousy, and misery.

But, there is one saboteur I have not talked about. The biggest saboteur to MY journey is ME! The biggest saboteur to YOUR journey is YOU! You see, we allow others to steer us away from our goals, our dreams, and our journey. At the end of the day it is our choice and our decision. True friends will support your journey. Loving family will begin to understand as you become the person you want to be. YOU ARE IN CONTROL! Don’t be your own saboteur!

If your friends are sabotaging your weight loss journey, find ones that will support it. Heck contact me, I’ll support it ?

Which is it?

Many people talk to me and assume my transformation has been some sort of a ‘perfect’ journey to losing 150 plus pounds and becoming fitter at 61 than any time in my life. People I coach, people I talk to about coaching, and just a casual conversation can center around people thinking that they have to travel a ‘perfect’ journey to reach their weight loss or fitness goals. Sometimes I can see them searching for the ‘perfect’ answer to a question I ask or ask me a question wanting to find the ‘perfect’ path to reach their goals.

Bad news, it is not about perfect!! It’s not about a straight line to success. It’s not about what someone else does or does not do. Journeys hit bumps and go well and not so well. Journeys will go up, down, sideways, and spin you around!

Now for the great news! YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO REACH YOUR GOALS! Sorry for shouting. I did not travel a straight line. I hit bumps, I swerved a little, I had good days, and I had bad days. But, I lost 150 pounds in 363 days!

How? I fully committed to the journey from the start. I documented my strategy and worked toward a plan. I researched and learned how to change. And I focused on my WHY! I needed to Take Care of ME so I could be the best me for my family, friends, and community. I needed to climb out of the deep dark hole I had been digging for far to long! My why was strong. I was and am committed to my journey.

It really is about how you travel the journey. Are you committed to your journey? Do you have a plan? Is your why strong enough to overcome the tough days and the bumps in the road?

If you are committed and believe, if you have a plan, and, most importantly, if your WHY is important enough to you; you can work through every bad day and get over every bump in the road to continue on your journey.

It ain’t about PERFECT, it’s about getting there no matter what!

Note to ME and YOU: Perfect is when you can see your goal in sight and you start looking for the next goal! That is when you know your journey is PERFECT!

YOU are a product of YOUR Decisions!

I did a Facebook post the other day about Managing Circumstances! In this picture you will see me icing my neck and shoulder. They are the result of a car accident 2 years ago and a very long story. When I made the post, I was not expecting prayers and good thoughts, but I thank everyone for them! My focus was my circumstance and dealing with it. You see many times in life I have given into my circumstance. I know it is a road many of us go down in our life. Circumstances can often be overwhelming.

At this point I would like to bring your focus to some of the inspiration I have in my life that teach me how to deal with tough circumstances. First, my dad is a great inspiration to me. He lost his partner in life (my mom) after 60 years just 2 short years ago. It is a very difficult circumstance. I know his heart hurts every day from the loss, I see it. How does he deal with it? He relies on prayer, God, family, and love. He is the best dad and granddad I know.

Another person is a good friend of mine. He is caring for his mom and mother in-law. He is raising a lovely teenager, works in the community, helps others, and works to share time with his wonderful wife. And, did I mention, he has dealt with retinoblastoma and the after effects of managing that horrible disease. He does an amazing job managing his ‘circumstances’! You will not know his circumstances because he rarely shares them outside of a select group, but he is amazing.

Then there is an entire group of people that are game changers for me. I’ve been watching, loving, and been part of the lives on countless children and teens over the past 31 years. The wonderful young people of Camp Kemo are all dealing with some form of cancer or blood disorder. They are dealing with ‘circumstances’ I wish on no young person. They are dealing with hospital visits, all kinds of treatment, weight gain, weight loss, hair loss, changing relationships with their peers that have no idea how to deal with them and their disease, and yes, death. They are traveling a very tough road with tough ‘circumstances’. And how do they deal with their circumstances? They laugh, smile, cheer for one another, share, care, dance, cry, hug, and overcome. I have watched them overcome their ‘circumstances’ for many years.

These young people, my friend, my dad, and many others in life have taught me that circumstances do not define the person. Circumstances can be tough, they put much pressure on people in their life’s journey. I am thankful that I have many examples of people in my life that have seen the tremendous pressure of ‘circumstances’. How they have managed their circumstances and dealt with the pressure has created many jewels for me to look to for hope and guidance in dealing with my circumstances.

I never question or compare people’s circumstances. What I do know is I have many examples of people in my life that have managed and overcome some circumstances that seemed impossible to work through. They were steering at a solid wall of circumstances and brick by brick removed the wall to continue on an even greater journey.

Could you send some lifeboats?

I love having coffee, an occasional sugar free light treat, working, and people watching at your stores. In full disclosure, I am a recovering “fat guy” or TheFatGuy, as I say.

This morning I witnessed several parents giving their kids sweet treats as breakfast! I know this is their choice but it is hard to watch with the obesity epidemic I am oh so much a part of in this country. I was offered a “healthy version” of your new Frap, The Midnight Mocha Madness. When I took a sip of the sample, I asked what made this shot ‘healthy’? “Oh, it doesn’t have whip!” was the explanation I received. Ummm, I think not!

Yesterday I saw a first grader I know with his grandmother in Starbucks. This first grader happens to be a Type 1 Diabetic. His grandmother explained what she went through to come up with a healthy, no carb version of a treat for her very special grandson. She had goosebumps just talking about it. She had done an amazing job researching and putting together a concoction that turned out to be quite good and shake like! BUT, she had to be extremely specific and watchful as the treat was assembled to make sure there were no added carbs.

I don’t tell you this to demonize your company or place blame on you for the obesity epidemic in our country. There is a lot of blame to go around. I made bad choices when I weighed 360 pounds that got me to that weight and kept me there. I used to drink 2 to 3 venti mochas a day! That is about 900 to 1350 calories a day with 90 to 135 grams of sugar. I made that choice and I am responsible for the 360 pounds I carried.

I also know you market what people buy. You would not have all of the, let’s say sugary crap, available unless people were buying it! I get it. When I am standing in line behind children with mother’s and father’s in the morning at Starbucks all of the ‘sweet treats’ are eye level with the little darlings in line! HMMM, I wonder what they will ask for?! It does not take a marketing department to answer this question.

I’ll admit, it is kind of odd working in Starbucks and writing about Starbucks, but I am sure you will be fine with this feedback and my thoughts. You have a huge R & D team (200 plus according to your website) that works on developing your food and beverage items. I know you have sugar free this and light that for choices. I know you promote yourself as a responsible company, offering Kale chips, etc.

Knowing all of this and watching the choices being made by our youth, I was wondering if maybe you could invest some major dollars in a “Healthy Campaign” targeted at young people! Reach out to schools, promote healthy choices to kids, impact the next generation in a truly positive and healthy way. I’ll bet the profits would see a short term and long term boost!

Maybe take the dollars you use to promote drinks like the Unicorn Frap (76 grams of sugar in a Venti) and invest some in a healthy campaign. Have a contest where people come up with healthy drink ideas. Invite the grandmother and mom of the young Type 1 Diabetic I know to give their input. Maybe you will even help turn around the epidemic of Type 2 Diabetics. Just my thoughts.

As you can tell, I am quite passionate about bringing attention to our obesity epidemic and the health issues it creates for so many people in our country. Roughly one third of our country is obese with two thirds being overweight. As I said earlier, I know people make choices, I made bad choices. Now I make good choices!!

I am 61 and as healthy as I have ever been in my life! I am 150 pounds lighter, fit, off of 7 medications, and have ditched my CPAP machine! That is the short version of my change. I want everyone to experience the type of health and wellness I have attained. Could you help me? Could you be a little more of the solution and a little less of the problem? Could you make a difference now and in the future? What a statement you could make if you were able to impact the lives of young people in way that improved the lives, health, and wellness of an entire generation!

I know all companies have some sort of look toward healthier choices. Some are giving it lip service, some are marketing healthy that is not so healthy, and some are ‘trying’ to make a difference. But, I know that marketing departments are looking at marketing to the two thirds of the population that is overweight already. It does not take a genius to know companies are in business to make money!

The obesity epidemic is like the Titanic. We have not only hit the iceberg, we are hitting it repeatedly and sinking very fast. Could you and some of the other leading companies in our country send some lifeboats to save some of the children!?

Note to ME and YOU: It is going to take more than a village to combat the obesity epidemic.

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